Children's Picture Books Appeal Equally to Adults - Essay Example

Children's Picture Books Appeal Equally to Adults Introduction Pictures are the earliest form of man’s communication: painting in caves, prints on the trees and stained glass windows all give evidence that how important it is to have pictorial representation in one’s life. (Joyce, Reader1, p.299).Children learn to understand pictures before they learn how to read words. Children’s books contain illustrations of many types. Certainly, the pictures of most of the books are what you remember most clearly from those books. However, it is easy to overlook their functions and meanings, while reading it, as they are seen as a decoration of the story whose ultimate meaning lies in the words Pictures have been the part of children’s books since the beginning of the writing. In the early ages there were no illustrated books; books only had text related pictures in them. The standard of illustration was increased as the writers acknowledged the importance of healthy images in the books. (Joyce, Reader1, p.299). They highlighted that with the help of such illustrations which enable the young minds of children to develop a better understanding of the story, and get pleasure from it for a longer period of time. Olden Times’ Illustrators and their Analysis Since the beginning of print technology, illustrations in children’s literature have been available in Europe in many forms. The illustrators of Victorian times are few of the key illustrations for books that are specifically designed for children. Examples include Kate Greenaway’s fragrance and rose filled gardens and Walter Crane’s extremely decorative art patterns. Furthermore, the naughty and more like an everyday life illustration of Randolph Caldecott are few of the famous concepts of this time. Arthur Rackham is rated among the few of the most influential artists. He has used watercolors and his extra ordinary imaginations to give his work great richness for all the times. (EA300DVD 2, No6, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Martin Salibury’.) From the twentieth century, Edward Arizzone is best known for the Tim books and his books are usually full of local detail. Moreover, Quentin Blake is known for his distinctive stylistic approach that is clearly shown in his humorous work. In addition to this, John Burningham is one of the other big names in the picture books today. His books are a mixture of sophistication and accessibility. American writer, Lane Smith, and his team are best known for their picture books. In their writings, the written words are also articulating the extra meaning; with the upside-down-ness and variation in size. Moreover, Sara Fanelli is another big name in the illustrative books. Her pictures are of contemporary style; neither too sophisticated nor too indulgent. (EA300DVD 2,No6, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Martin Salibury’.) One of the famous writers who has given their analysis in this field is Moebius, early contributor in the study of multimodality, who points out that the picture books give a comprehensive textual study and reward close analysis. He dispelled the idea that these books are simple and specifically aimed at children (Goodman, Reader1, p.298) Therefore, it can be concluded that all the picture books apparently are designed for the children but actually they also attract the minds of the elders as well. Role of Adults in picture books The role of adults in children’s literature has a deep concern with power and politics, both of which is imposed by them on the children. The illustrators play politics by developing an ethnic background for the character. The role of power is played by the one who buys the books for the younger ones. They make the decision what their child would be reading, and from what they should protect their child. Even though they might be successful in buying the appropriate books for their children, but they cannot comprehend the message the child would be deriving out of it (Study Guide, Block 1, p.12). Many of the times in picture books, illustrations can tell us most of the things that words are unable to say. This might be because of the limited number of words and the huge size of the image that have many expressions, and the minute details that are added by the illustrator purposely. These tiny details communicate with the reader more successfully. (EA300DVD 2,No7, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Anthony Browne’.) Thus the politics of an illustrator is also evident here as with the use of different color coding they can play up or play down any of the pictures and can convey any messages through their picture coding technique. The Purposes of Children's Literature The purpose of children’s literature is not only to provide entertainment to the youngsters but it also has some hidden meaning which helps the children to learn many morals and etiquettes without being told by an adult. There are often unspoken meanings in all the picture books which create the depth of understanding in the readers’ minds. Generally, the heroes of the children’s literature are portrayed as brave, honest and innocent children who eventually surrender under the control of their elders. Thus in a very light way this conveys the message, of morals and etiquettes to the children, that the children are suppose to be morally strong, yet they have to be obedient towards their elders. Usually when children read a book, they relate the pictures and other small details and scenarios to their real life. This combination helps them to portray the scene of the book as a normal world in one or the other sense (EA300DVD 2,No7, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Anthony Browne’). In this way relating the pictures with real world assist them to understand the ongoing story and other aspects of the world in a far better way. Audience of picture book and their Understanding The element of fiction can play an important part for the adults as well. The fantasy of the fiction can touch the heart of many adults. However, the concept or the lesson that is derived by both the age groups is different from each other. Children see the lead character of the story as a hero who has more powers and authority than his elders whereas adults consider the hardships that the hero has to face when dealing with life. While the children are fascinated by the talking animals, the focus of the adults is on the main plot and the message that is being given to them (Study Guide, Block 1, p.35). Since we all know that the childhood is a time of optimism and innocence, therefore young children only adopt or focus on the brighter side of the picture. However, the adults who read these picture books with their children look at the deeper side of the story. For example, as the writer of the picture books, knows that most of the children are assisted by their parents, so he usually applies many concepts on one page that the adult has to explain it to the child and likewise the attention of both the readers remains on the book. For instance, in The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, there is clothing color discrimination among the characters and it represents change in behavior or gender of that particular character. The gestures of Peter indicate that he does not care of whatever is being told by his mother and is eager to work according to his own will. Therefore, he wants to leave the place (Studyguide, Block5, p.208). Merely by reading the text this whole situation would not be understood by the young readers, so in the assistance of elders these unspoken details are explained. In this way it holds the attention of adults as well who are working with them simultaneously. The picture books are filled with many of the details that try to speak to the parent instead of the child. This happens because the parents have to read the book several times to their child, and in order to keep them active and alert, a lot of sophistications are added to the book so that whenever they read the book they find something new in it and do not get bored. In an interview, Anthony Browne, a famous name in children’s literature, says that he particularly does not write for any specific age group. He writes for anyone who reads his books. Therefore the structure and layout of the illustrated books are appealing for adults as well. He says that according to many writers the ideas and story line comes from their own experiences and interests. Therefore, they keep in mind the element of what they wanted to have in their books when they were children which represents the childhood memories of the writer. In this way when the feelings of the writer being an adult, and his memories when he was a child, mix together, they make a master piece that is in interest of both the age groups. Publishing and Marketing Practices in Relation to Picture Books By the end of this century picture books have been only known as the books of the young children. However, besides from the publication of small-press, a limited-edition of art books are meant for an adult audience, which reads and analyze these picture books to understand what impression it leaves on the young minds (Study Guide, Block 5, p.217). Though the target audience of the picture books is preschool and primary grade children, however, the marketing of these books is directed towards the parents, teachers, and librarians who are the purchasers of these books. Keeping this point in mind it can very possibly be said that though the purpose of these picture books is to communicate with the younger audience but the book has to have such exceptional features that it should attract the adult people as well (Study Guide, Block 5, p.218). Inspiration from Children’s Literature Children’s literature is becoming popular among the elder people as well, however it is not being covered or looked at as a literal picture book. But this concept is used in the literature of adults as well. If we look at the comic section of adults’ literature, it more or less resembles the concept of picture book, where there are few words and the rest of the concept is explained by the supporting picture. The same phenomenon is used in the newspapers by the critics. When they want to explain the tough political or social scenarios in a very light way, they tend to transmit the idea or the concept to the audience with the help of self explanatory pictures. Another element that is being copied on the adult’s reading material is spot the difference in which both the pictures are identical with ten or lesser differences that the reader has to spot. The concept is achieved from the picture books in which though the story keeps on running but the pictures that follow them have few changes. When we consider the adoption of these ideas in children’s books we can say that although, these concepts are a part of the children’s literature but they are equally enjoyed by the adults when there is a little raise in the standards of comprehension. They can also be a source of pleasure when the adults are reading these books with their children. Conclusion It is the nature of picture books that they reflect the social morals, values, and beliefs to their younger audience with such an extraordinary flexibility and openness that they do not feel over imposed by the reality. Picture books can portray the invisible concepts and ideas such as responsibility, truth, and love with such effectiveness that no individual can explain or communicate these emotions to them. For this reason, picture books are very important for the young children who are in the process of learning norms and etiquettes as well as for the adults who, while explaining these concepts to their children, enjoy it and refresh it in their own selves. The colour coding and the choice of the frames, round or rectangular, help the adults to read between the lines effortlessly and understand the bigger meaning of the simple picture book. This special language forces the adults to enjoy the communication of the illustration more effectively. Thus, we can say that the layout and the illustration of the picture books can equally develop the interest of the adults in the story. References EA300DVD 2,No7, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Anthony Browne’ EA300DVD 2, No6, Children’s literature ‘Interview with Martin Salibury’ Study guide, Block 5, pg 208 fig 5.4. StudyGuide, Block1, pg,12,pg 39 Goodman.S. Words and Picture: the essays, Reader 1. Pg 298. Joyce I.W. Text and Pictures: a History, Reader 1. Pg 299 Read More